CHP- and Power Plants

8. CHP- and Power Plants

photo: burmeister & wain energi

In 1986, the Danish Government

entered into an energy policy
agreement including, e.g., that decentralised CHP plants with a total
power output of 450 MW fired with
domestic fuels like straw, wood,
waste, biogas, and natural gas
shall be constructed up to 1995. In
1990, the government entered into
another agreement on increased
use of natural gas and biofuels, primarily by constructing new CHP
plants and converting the existing
coal- and oil-fired district heating
plants to natural gas and biomassbased CHP production.

CHP Plant Principle

Loss 60%

district heating production achieve as

high electrical power efficiency, i.e.,
the ratio between the electrical power
generated and the energy input, as
that of a power plant. The electrical
power efficiency for a straw-fired plant
is 20-30%.
By operating a CHP plant, the annual electrical power efficiency (on average over a year) is not necessarily
an expression of what is technically
possible. Requirements in respect of
process steam supply, priority of district heating supply, and electrical
power generation according to certain
tariffs result in a lower efficiency than
the full-load electrical power efficiency. See Table 6.
At the CHP plant, it is possible
to with certain limits regulate the turbine so that the ratio between elec-

Heat production
85%
Loss 15%

trical power and heat production is

changed, but in principle, the greater
heating requirement the more steam
can be cooled by the district heating
water, and the more steam can be
produced by the boiler with the subsequently greater electrical power
generation. At a power plant, there
is not this dependence, since there is
always sufficient cooling capacity in
the sea. In order to make the electrical power generation at a CHP plant
more independent of the district heating requirement, all plants are
equipped with a storage tank where
the condensation heat can be stored
when the district heating requirement
is low.
Combined heat and power production is given high priority in Denmark, also when it comes to power

CHP plant

Electrical power
generation 40%

Masned Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant) was started up in 1996 and consumes

approx. 40,000 tonnes of straw per annum. In addition, an amount of approx.
8,000 tonnes of wood chips is consumed.

District heating
plant

Power plant

At a traditional coal-fired power plant

(condensation), 40-45% of the energy
input is converted into electrical
power. The remaining energy is not
utilised. It vanishes with the hot flue
gas from the boiler through the chimney into thin air and with the cooling
water out into the sea (see Figure 20).
At a CHP plant, electrical power
is generated in the same way as at a
power plant, but instead of discharging the condensation heat from the
steam together with the cooling water
into the sea, the steam is cooled by
means of the recycling water from a
district heating distribution net which
in turn is heated.
The advantages of a CHP plant
is, e.g., that is does not require sea
water for cooling and can therefore be
located near large towns (decentralised) where there is a sufficiently
great requirement for district heating
and a distribution net. Another advantage is that the energy generated by
the fuel can be utilised up to 85-90%
(see Figure 20).
On the other hand, it is not possible to at a CHP plant together with

Electrical power
generation 25%
Heat production
60%
Loss 15%

Figure 20: By separate electrical power generation and heat production at a power plant and a district heating plant, the
losses are much larger than by combined heat and power production at a CHP plant. Losses include own consumption at
the plant

Page 34

Straw for Energy Production

CHP- and Power Plants

Rudkbing
Electrical power output (net)

Haslev

Slagelse

Masned

Gren

Mbjerg

Maribo/
Sakskbing

2.3 MW

5.0 MW

11.7 MW

8.3 MW

18.6 MW

28 MW

9.3 MW

7.0 MJ/s

13.0 MJ/s

28.0 MJ/s

20.8 MJ/s

60.0 MJ/s

67 MJ/s

20.3 MJ/s

Full load electrical efficiency (net)

21%

23%

27%

26%

18%

27%

29%

Electrical efficiency per annum

17%

17%

22%

23%

14%

20%

26%

Heat output

Table 6: Electrical power output, heat output, and electrical power efficiency for the seven decentralised CHP plants. As
explained in the text, the annual electrical power efficiency is lower than the efficiency at full load. The annual electrical
power efficiency is calculated on the basis of production figures for 1997 except for Maribo/Sakskbing that is an estimated figure. The high figures for Slagelse are caused by the fact that the steam from the waste boiler plant is not included
in the boiler loss. The low figures for Grenaa Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant) are caused by supplies of process steam for industrial purposes. All figures stated are net figures, i.e., the plants own consumption of electrical power has been deducted. See also Table 7.
plants located near large cities like
Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg,
Odense and others. At these power
plants, part of the loss of approx. 60%
as shown in Figure 20 is utilised for
district heating production.
The six straw-fired decentralised
CHP plants that are already in operation and the planned plant in Maribo/Sakskbing are all based on the
CHP principle described. As the
plants are partly constructed as demonstration plants for the purpose of
demonstrating the straw-based technologies, they are rather different in
construction design. Comparable data
on the seven plants appear from Tables 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Rudkbing, Haslev,
Slagelse, Masned, and
Maribo/Sakskbing
The CHP plants in Haslev and Rudkbing were started up in 1989 and
1990 and are Denmarks and probably
the worlds first electrical power generating plants exclusively fired with
straw. The plant at Masned near
Vordingborg that was started up in
1996 is also exclusively straw-fired,
but at the same time designed for
wood chips up to 20% of the total input. The plant near Maribo/Sakskbing is planned to start up at the
beginning of the year 2000 and is exclusively straw-fired.

The plants are owned and run by the

electrical power companies: I/S Sjllandske Kraftvrker, SK Energi, and
I/S Fynsvrket. The electricity generated is supplied to the public utility
companies main distribution network,
and the heat is supplied to the district
heating systems of the towns.
Size of Plant
The outputs at the plants of Rudkbing, Haslev, and Masned are: 2.3,
5, and 8.3 MW electrical power (MW
electricity). With a heat output of 7.0,
13, and 20.8 MJ/s respectively, the
annual consumption of straw is approx. 12,500, 25,000, and 40,000 tonnes. Electrical output and heat output

Boiler

Air preheater

Economizer

Shredder

Superheater 2
Superheater 1

Straw storage

Combustion
chamber

Steam drum

Steam from boiler

Turbine

Generator

Bag filter

Vibrating grate

Slag container

District heating
heat exchanger

Feed water tank

Condenser
Storage tank

Figure 21. Simplified diagram of Rudkbing Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant). The flue gas passes through the combustion
chamber to the superheater section and further through an economiser and air preheater and is cleaned in a bag filter
before being released through the chimney at 110C.

Straw for Energy Production

Page 35

CHP- and Power Plants

are net figures, i.e., the plants own
consumption of electrical power and
heat are deducted.
As the plant in Slagelse is a combination between a waste-fired and a
straw-fired boiler that produces steam
for the same turbine, the data in Tables 6 and 7 for the entire plant are
11.7 MW electrical power and 28 MJ/s
heat, respectively. An amount of 6570% of the production output is based
on straw which is equal to an annual
consumption of straw of approx.
25,000 tonnes.
The plant near Maribo/Sakskbing is designed for an electrical
power output of 9.3 MW and a heat
production of 20.3 MJ/s. The annual
consumption of straw is approx.
40,000 tonnes.

Data

Unit

Electrical power (net)

Firing and Combustion System

At the plant in Slagelse, two automatic
cranes handle the transport of the big
bales from the rows in the storage to
three parallel feeding system. The
bales are passed via a closed fireproof tunnel system (that prevents a
possible backfire/burn-back from
spreading to the straw storage) towards the straw shredder of the same
type as that used at Grenaa Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant). The strings that
hold the bales together are automatically cut and removed.
The shredder consists of three
rotating cylinders positioned above
each other equipped with kind of a
disc separator. The loose straw falls
off the shredder on to a rotary valve
and from there to the screw stokers

Rudkbing

Haslev

which for each of the three firing systems consist of three screws. The
screw stokers press the straw through
the feeding tunnel on to the grate that
consists of an inclined movable push
grate followed by a short horizontal
push grate. After burning out, the
ash/slag falls via a slag hopper into a
slag bath filled with water from where
a conveyor system conveys the wet
ash/slag to containers.
At Rudkbing Kraftvarmevrk
(CHP plant) with a firing capacity of
10.7 MW, only one firing system is required. After shredding, the straw falls
down into a stoker system consisting
of one single rectangular ram stoker
that by forward and backward movements pushes the straw through a
water-cooled feeding tunnel on to the

Slagelse3) Masned

11.74)

8.3

7.0

13

28

4)

20.8

60

67

67

92

450

450

450

tonnes/h

Steam temp.

5.0

bar

Steam pressure

2.3

MJ/s

Heat output

MW

Max. Steam flow

Gren

Mbjerg1)

18.6

Maribo
Sakskbing

282)

9.3

67

2)

20.3

92

67

93

522

505

410/520

542

60.0

5)

26

40.5

43.2

104

125

43.2

2,500

3,200

3.500

5,000

4,000

5,000

5,600

kg/s

6.8

9.9

13.4

14

39

71

14

110

120

120

120

135

110

110

tonnes

350

350

550

1,000

1,100

432

1,000

tonnes/year

12,500

25,000

25,000

40,000

55,000

35,000

40,000

10-25

10-25

10-25

max 25

10-23

10-25

max 25

Bag filter

Bag filter Elec. filter Elec. filter Elec. filter

Bag filter

Bag filter

Shredded/
stoker

Storage tank

13.9

Cigar Shredded/ Shredded/ Shredded/

burner
stoker
stoker pneumatic

Flue gas flow, max.

Flue gas temp.

Straw storage
Straw consumption
Water content, straw
Filter type
Firing system
Boiler plant costs

DKK
year

Started up
Specific 1995-price

7)

64 mill.

100 mill. 1406) mill.

1990

1989

DKK/MWel

30 mill.

23 mill.

Cigar Shredded/
burner
stoker

240 mill.

365 mill.

600 mill.

240 mill.

1990

1996

1992

1993

2000

21 mill.

28 mill.

21 mill.

22 mill.

23 mill.

1): The plant consists of two waste-fired and one straw/wood chips-fired boiler that produces steam for the same turbine.
2): Data are the total production output of electrical power and heat of the straw/wood chips- and the waste-fired boilers of
which the straw/wood chips-fired boiler produces approx. 27%.
3):The plant consists of a waste-fired and a straw-fired boiler that produces steam for the same turbine.
4): Data are the total production of electrical power and heat of the straw- and waste-fired
boilers of which the straw-fired boiler generates/produces approx. 66%.
5): Distributed between district heating (max. 32 MJ/s) and process steam (max. 53 MJ/s).
6): The cost of construction only for the straw-boiler.
7): The specific price is only normative, since it varies how much the cost of construction shall include. As a comparison
with other types of CHP plants, it should be informed that here the net output has formed the basis of the calculation of
the specific price and not the gross electrical power output (gross figures include own consumption at the plant).
Table 7: Data for the seven straw-fired, decentralised CHP plants.

Page 36

Straw for Energy Production

grate. By means of the ram stoker

movements, the straw is pressed together in the feeding tunnel to a gasproof plug that prevents backfire/
burn-back. The straw burns out on a
vibrating grate, and the ash/slag falls
into a water-cooled slag bath from
where it passes to the container.
At Haslev Kraftvarmevrk (CHP
plant), the big bales are fired without
shredding in four parallel cigar burner
systems. The cigar burner is described under Section 7 on district
heating plants.
At Masned Kraftvarmevrk
(CHP plant), the straw is stored and
handled to the firing system via crane
and feeding lines. A completely new
system has been developed for the
feeding of the straw whereby the
straw bale is pushed against two vertical screws which by means of their rotation shred the straw and pass it to a
horizontal set of screw stokers that by
means of counter rotation press the
straw into the form of a gas-proof plug
through an almost rectangular feeding
tunnel and then on to the grate. With
two of these systems, the plant is capable of at full load consuming 19 big
bales, equal to 10 tonnes of straw, per
hour. Each of the two firing systems
have been designed so as to be fed
wood chips simultaneously with the
straw. Preliminary experiments show
that the wood chips can make out up
to 40% of the overall energy input.
The plant has been designed for 20%
wood chips.
Ash and Slag Handling
At all plants, the slag and ash from the
bottom of the boiler are separated
from the fly ash from the filter. The
slag and ash from the bottom of the
boiler are returned to the farmer so as
to be applied as a manure/fertiliser
supplement whereas the fly ash due
to its too high content of heavy metals
may either be deposited on a controlled waste disposal site or be used
for mixing with fertilisers. For further
details, see under Section 11 Residual Products.
Boiler Output, Steam Data, and
Heat Storage
All the boilers are water tube boilers
with steam drum and natural circulation in the vaporiser system. For reasons of plant efficiency, it is necessary
with a high electrical power generation. This preconditions a high steam
pressure and steam temperature. In
order for the boiler to withstand the
high pressure, the boiler water passes
through water/steam tubes that make
out the walls (and top and bottom) of

photo: weiss a/s

CHP- and Power Plants

A water tube boiler of a CHP plant is being welded. The tubes are equipped with
small longitudinal fins so that they can be welded together to a gas-proof wall
making out the sides, top and bottom of the boiler.
the boiler. From the steam drum
where water and steam are separated, the steam passes to the superheaters which, e.g., can be clustered
either like festoons vertically from the
ceiling or be set in vertical banks of
pipes in independent superheater
passes after the combustion chamber.
After the superheater passes, there is
a pass with the economiser and the
air preheater where the feed water
and combustion air are heated. Due to
the relative high content of alkali metals in the straw ash (potassium and
sodium) and chlorine, the flue gas is
corrosive, particularly at high temperatures (above 450C), and thus as a
consequence of the low ash temperature of fusion, the ash particles may
cause slagging problems in the boiler.
If the slag becomes solid and viscid, it
is difficult to remove during operating
and will obstruct the heat transfer from
the flue gas to the steam in the tubes,
and in severe cases, it may shut off

Other
fuels

Unit

Waste

tonnes/year

Coal

tonnes/year

40,000

Gas

Nm /year

4 million

8,000

25,000

Wood chips tonnes/year

Masned

the free movement of the flue gas to

an extent that the negative pressure
and thus the load on the boiler cannot
be maintained. At the plants in Haslev,
Slagelse, and Rudkbing, it has been
tried to avoid these problems by limiting the superheater temperature to a
maximum of 450C. In Haslev and
Slagelse, this has been done by pulling the superheater sections that far
back in the boiler system that the flue
gas temperature is reduced to approx.
650-700C before its contact with the
first superheater section.
At Masned Kraftvarmevrk
(CHP plant), the steam temperature
has been increased to 522C as an
experiment. As mentioned, the higher
temperature increases the risk of
heavy corrosion and slagging problems. The superheater and the top
of the boiler is therefore constructed
so that it is relatively easy to replace
possible corroded superheater
tubes.

Gren

Mbjerg
150,000
-

Slagelse
20,000
-

Table 8: Four of the plants are designed for co-firing with other fuels.

Straw for Energy Production

Page 37

CHP- and Power Plants

At the planned CHP plant in Maribo/Sakskbing that will be started up
at the beginning of the year 2000, the
steam temperature will be designed to
542C. A range of experiments will
show how serious the corrosion problems will be.
The prospects for Danish trade
and industry gaining a foothold in foreign markets with straw-fired CHP
plants preconditions high electrical
power efficiencies and thus high
steam data in the range of 580C as
at the most recently constructed pulverised coal-fired power plants. At
temperatures that high, it will, in addition to the problems in connection with
corrosion and slag deposits, also be
necessary to equip the plant with turbines of a different and more expensive quality than that previously used
on the CHP plants described in the
above sections.

Grenaa and Maabjerg

The CHP Plant in Grenaa

The CHP plant in Grenaa is coal- and
straw-fired, and in addition to electrical power, it shall together with a municipality run refuse incineration plant,
and waste heat from the industrial enterprises nearby, cover 90% of the
district heating consumption in Grenaa and 90% of the process steam
consumption by the industrial enterprise Danisco Paper. As from 1997,
the industrial steam system is developed so as to also cover the process
steam consumption by Danisco Distillers. So far being the only biomassfired plant in Denmark, the boiler type
used in Grenaa is designed as a circulating fluidized bed system.
Fluidized Bed
A fluidized bed boiler consists of a cylindrical vertically set combustion
chamber where air passes through
the solid particles consisting of fuel
and a fluidizing medium, e.g., sand,
thereby fluidizing the mixture (the bed)
and thus attain properties as a liquid.
An advantage of the fluidized bed
boiler is that it is suitable for firing with
co-fuels.

The fluidized bed principle is seen in a

variety of types, but roughly there are
two main principles:

Bubbling fluidized bed (BFB)

Circulating fluidized bed (CFB)
The boiler in Grenaa is a circulating
fluidized bed type. From the fluidized
bed section, the heated flue gas circulates together with solid particles into
an separator cyclone where the solid
particles are extracted and recirculated in the fluidized bed. The
flue gas passes from the cyclone to a
pass where the economiser and air
preheater are positioned. Between the
cyclone outlet and the economiser,
the flue gas passes 2 tube sections
which together with a bank of pipes in
the bed itself make out the superheater. In 1996, the superheater was extended with a section positioned in the
ash re-circulation system.

Handling and Firing System

At the CHP plant in Grenaa as with
the other plants, the straw is delivered
in the form of big bales. With an annual supply of 55,000 tonnes of straw,
it has been necessary to automate
weighing and measuring of the water
content on delivery to the plant. An

photo: biopress/torben sktt

The CHP plants in Grenaa and Maabjerg near Holstebro are owned and
run by the electricity utility companies
I/S Midtkraft and I/S Vestkraft.
The Grenaa plant was started up
in 1992, and the plant in Maabjerg in
1993. Both plants are designed for fir-

ing with combinations of straw and

other fuels.

Maabjergvrket (CHP plant). On the left, the storage tank of 5,000 m!. The straw storage is the low building on the right.
Outermost on the right the outdoor wood chips storage.

Page 38

Straw for Energy Production

automatic crane is equipped with griphooks that can lift 12 bales at a time
off the truck. By means of microwaves
that are sent through the bales from
one grip-hook to the other one, and by
means of a weighing cell between
grip-hooks and crane, the average
water content and the weight are being measured and recorded by a computer.
From the storage, the bales are
picked up by a crane and unloaded on
to 4 feeding lines. The straw is shredded by a relatively low energy consumption (1.8 kWh per MWh fired).
The shredded straw is conveyed from
the 4 lines via rotary valves to 2 feeding systems. Via the feeding systems,
the straw is blown on to the ash circulation system from where it passes on
to the bed. After having been pulverised to a grain size of maximum 8
mm, the coal is fed either via screw
stokers in the bottom of the boiler or
via rotary valves on to the ash circulation system.
Other Data
The boiler in Grenaa has been designed for firing with coal and straw in
a mixture of 50% straw on energy basis. At full load (100%), the boiler produces 104 tonnes of steam per hour
at 505C and 92 bar. Of this amount,
between 37 and 77 tonnes of steam
are drawn off per hour at 210C and
8.3 bar for process steam for the industrial enterprises Danisco Paper
and Danisco Distillers. In addition to
55,000 tonnes of straw, approx.
40,000 tonnes of coal are consumed
per annum. The coal storage is capable of supplying coal for 20 days and
nights at 100% pure coal firing, and
the straw storage is capable of supplying straw for the consumption of
4.2 days and nights at 50/50% fuel
mixture. Like the other CHP plants,
the boiler plant is equipped with a
heat storage tank, and like the plants
in Slagelse and Masned, the flue gas
Emission

photo: biopress/torben sktt

CHP- and Power Plants

The operations manager at Grenaa Kraftvarmevrk (CHP plant) stands by the

straw shredder that is opened for inspection.
filter, and in respect of the waste-fired
boilers, the flue gas cleaning system
is supplemented by a scrubber system in order to reduce hydrogen chloride-, hydrogen fluoride-, and sulphur
oxide emissions. The scrubber system
separates at the same time heavy metals from the fly ash to a certain extent.
The straw/wood chips-fired boiler
can operate at full load on either straw
or wood chips, or on combinations of
straw and wood chips. The boiler output is 12 tonnes of straw per hour.
Further data are set out in Tables 6, 7,
8, and 9.

is cleaned for solid particles by means

of an electrostatic filter.
The CHP Plant in Maabjerg
In Maabjerg near Holstebro, I/S
Vestkraft ( electricity utility) has constructed a CHP plant that is fired with
waste, straw, wood chips, and natural
gas. The plant is divided into 3 boiler
lines, 2 for waste and 1 for straw and
wood chips.
All 3 boilers are equipped with
separate natural gas-fired superheater
that raises the steam temperature
from 410C to 520C at a pressure of
67 bar. The straw is fired in the form
of whole big bales into 6 cigar burners, installed 3 and 3 opposite each
other. By means of a pneumatic feeding system, the wood chips are thrown
on to a vibrating grate where unburnt
straw and wood chips burn out. The
flue gas generated by the straw/wood
chips-fired boiler is cleaned in a bag

Environmental
Requirements
In the Danish Environmental Protection Agency Directions No. 6 and
9/1990 on Industrial Air Pollution
Control Guidelines /ref. 42/, emission
levels that are intended as a guide for

Unit

Rudkbing

Haslev

Slagelse

Gren

Aabenraa

Mbjerg

CO

volume %
dry flue gas

0.2 at
12% CO

0.05 at
10% O

0.2 at
12% CO

None

None

0.05 at
10% O

Dust

mg/Nm!

50

50

50

50

50

NON

mg/Nm

Maribo/
Sakskbing

0.05 at
10% O

0.05 at
10% O

40

350

340

340

160

400

SO

mg/Nm

40

40

None

None

300

300

280

2,000



Masned

200

400

None

None

None

Table 9: Maximum emissions from the 7 decentralised CHP plants and the power plant at Aabenraa. The figures are from
the environmental approvals of the individual plants.
1): The emission is 100-200 mg SO /Nm! when operating
2): Calculated on the basis of 650 mg/Nm!.

Straw for Energy Production

Page 39

CHP- and Power Plants

straw-fired boiler plants larger than 1
MW input are for dust and CO suggested at 40 mg/Nm! and 0.05% CO
(volume % at 10% O in the flue gas),
respectively. However, concerning the
CHP plants described here, the environmental approvals in question stipulate individual requirements to be met,
see Table 9.

Cost of Construction and

Operating Costs

High-temperature corrosion of superheaters at high steam temperatures

Industrial application of mixed ash
by co-firing of straw and coal
Flue gas cleaning by co-firing of
straw and coal
Resource statements and straw supply safety
Costs
There are several overall concepts for
solutions:
1. Separate firing: Straw fired in a
separate biomass-based boiler
that supplies steam for the coalfired boiler.
2. Co-firing: Straw and coal fired together in power plant boiler
3. Coupled-gasifier-combustor. Gasification of straw, the gas burns in a
boiler that may be designed for cofiring of straw gas and pulverised
coal. This concept is undergoing
further development.

Straw at Power Plants

In 1993, the Danish parliament
Folketinget ordered the Danish
power plants to use 1.2 million tonnes
of straw (it was later decided that 0.2
million tonnes of wood chips can be
substituted by wood or willow chips)
and 0.2 million tonnes of wood chips
as fuels at the centralised power
plants not later than 2000 as a result
of the energy policy target in respect
of CO reduction.
The Electricity Utility Group ELSAM and ELKRAFT Power Company
Ltd. therefore implemented a wide
range of activities in order to subject
the problems of firing very large

photo: snderjyllands hjspndingsvrk

The cost of construction for the decentralised biomass-fired CHP plants

is relatively higher than that of conventional coal-fired power plants
measured by the million (DKK) per installed MW electrical power output.
For the seven plants, the specific construction investment is in the range of
approx. DKK 21 and 30 million per
MW electrical power. As will appear
from Table 7, the cost of construction
is price index-linked to the 1995 level,
thereby making it suitable to be compared. The relatively high cost of construction depends first and foremost
on the size of the plant, (the smaller
the plant, the higher the specific cost
of construction). By technological advances in respect of a certain type of
plant, the specific price will drop for
new plants compared to older plants
of the same size. The specific price
should be understood as a guide,
since the cost of construction varies
with the items included, see Table 7.
By a comparison with other types of
CHP plants, it should be mentioned
that the calculation of the specific

amounts of straw at power plants to a

critical analysis. Among the important
issues in that respect were:

price forming the basis of Table 7 is

based on the net output and not on
the gross output. The gross output includes the plants own consumption of
power. The status of being pilot and
demonstration plant also contributes
to an increase in the cost of construction which contributes to confusing the
price.
The volumetric calorific value of
straw is a factor 10-15 times lower
than that of coal at the same time of
straw being physically more difficult to
handle, thus the costs for storage,
handling and firing systems contribute
to increasing the plants high specific
cost of construction. With a straw
price of approx. DKK 0.45 per kg or
approx. DKK 0.11 per kWh, straw is
three times as expensive as coal for
electrical power production, see Figure 1, Section 1.

3 of 4 feeding lines at Enstedvrket (power plant). The big bales are collected
via a conveyor belt in the storage and are distributed to the 4 lines via a
traversing vehicle.

Page 40

Straw for Energy Production

By separate firing, problems in respect of high-temperature corrosion

are avoided because the steam temperature in the biomass boiler is kept
under a critical level. Industrial application of ash from the coal boiler is no
problem because the ash from the two
boilers are not mixed. The drawback
to separate firing is first and foremost
the high cost of construction. By cofiring, solutions should be found to the
problems of high-temperature corrosion and industrial application of
mixed ash. At power plants that are
equipped with desulphurization- and
nitrogen reduction units (deNON
plants), the content of alkali metals
(potassium and sodium) and chlorine
in the straw ash causes operating
problems. A major advantage of cofiring is the low cost of construction.
The interest for coupled-gasifiercombustors is due to both the low cost
of construction and the prospects of
low alkali and chlorine contents in the
gas. So far, a straw-fired boiler plant
has been established at a power plant
within a framework managed by the
Electricity Utility Group ELSAM. In the
autumn of 1997, Snderjyllands Hjspndingsvrk (electricity utility) has
started up a separate biomass-fired
boiler at the Enstedvrket (power
plant) running parallel with the pulverised coal-fired Unit 3 of the Enstedvrket. Since 1995, I/S Midtkraft (
electricity utility) has carried out ex-

CHP- and Power Plants

630 MW

Flue gas
fan

Flue gas
fan
Plaster

Biomass ash
Super
heater

Steamturbine

DesulphElectrostatic
urization unit
filters

Electrostatic
filters

DeNOx

Coal ash

Biomass-fired
boiler

Coal-fired
boiler

graphic: snderjyllands hjspndingsvrk

Wood
chips

Coal

Condenser

Straw

Biomass slag

Coal slag

Figure 22: Simplified diagram of Enstedvrkets biomass-fired boiler of 40 MW electrical power and the coal-fired boiler of
630 MW electrical power. The biomass-fired boiler substitutes the use of the 80,000 tonnes of coal/year, thereby reducing
the amount of CO being released to the atmosphere by 192,000 tonnes/year.
periments on co-firing with straw and
pulverised coal in a 150 MW electrical
power power plant boiler.
In Zealand, ELKRAFT Power
Company Ltd. has planned firing with
straw at Avedrevrket (power plant)
in a separate biomass-fired boiler.
Enstedvrket
The biomass-fired boiler plant at the
Enstedvrket consists of two boilers,
a straw-fired boiler producing heat at
470C, and a wood chips-fired boiler
superheating the steam from the
straw-fired boiler to 542C. The superheated steam is lead to the highpressure steam system of the Enstedvrket Unit 3 (210 bar). With an estimated annual consumption of 120,000
tonnes of straw and 30,000 tonnes of
wood chips, equal to an input of 95.2
MJ/s, the biomass-fired boiler produces 88 MW thermic (energy) including 39.7 MW electrical power (approx.
6.6% of the total amount of electrical
power generated by Unit 3. Thus the
biomass-fired boiler is considerably
larger than the largest of the decentralised biomass-fired CHP plants. Net
electrical power efficiency being 40%.

The annual efficiency is estimated being a bit lower due to the connection
with Unit 3 and due to variations in
load conditions. The biomass-fired
boiler is planned to operate 6,000
hours at full load per annum. With a
storage capacity of only 1,008 bales
which will allow for approx. 24 hours
operation, 914 big bales should be delivered every 24 hours on average,
equal to 4 truck loads per hour for 9.5
hours every 24 hours.
The straw-fired boiler is equipped
with 4 feeding lines. The plant can operate at a 100% load at only 3 lines,
though. Each feeding line consists of
a fireproof tunnel, conveyors, straw
shredder, fire damper, and a feeding
tunnel. As with the plant at Masned,
the straw shredder is designed as two
coupled, conical, vertical screws
towards which the straw bale is
pressed. From the straw shredder, the
shredded straw is dosed via a fire
damper on to the screw stoker that
presses the straw like a plug through
the feeding tunnel and on to the grate.
The wood chips-based boiler is
equipped with two pneumatic dampers that throws the wood chips on to a

grate. The dosing of wood chips is

performed by a feeding screw from an
intermediate silo.
The flue gas is cleaned by electrostatic filter. In order for the bottomash and slag from the boiler to be applied as fertiliser, the fly ash from the
filter (that contains the major part of
the heavy metals of the ash) is separated from the ash from the bottom of
the boiler.
The total cost of construction of
the boiler plant at the Enstedvrket is
approx. DKK 400 million (1995
prices). The price includes boiler, fuel
storage, steam pipe to the Unit 3 turbine. Re-use of boiler house and electrostatic filter. The project was decided
in January 1995, and commercial operation commenced at the beginning
of 1998.
Studstrupvrket
Before it was decided to establish cofiring of straw and coal at Studstrupvrket (power plant), I/S Midtkraft
(electricity utility) carried through experiments on two old power plant
units, a pulverised-coal-fired unit of
125 MW electrical power, and a

Straw for Energy Production

Page 41

CHP- and Power Plants

Handling and firing of straw in a

power plant boiler that is simultaneously fired with coal
Consequences for the boiler output
and flue gas emissions
Corrosion of superheaters and slagging problems
Mixed ash problems
Straw influence on flue gas cleaning
systems
The experiments have resulted in the
carrying though of a 2-year demonstration project during 1996/97 with
co-firing of straw and coal at the pulverised coal-fired the power plant
(Unit 1) 150 MW electrical power of
the Studstrupvrket.
The plant at Studstrupvrket is
designed for a maximum straw input
of 20% of the total input energy. A
straw storage is established with
space for 1,100 big bales and a total
of 4 feeding lines each consisting of a
shredder and a hammer mill that
crushes the shredded straw stalks.
The straw is together with the pulverised coal blown into the combustion
chamber.
The boiler is designed for an output of 500 tonnes of steam per hour at
a steam pressure of 143 bar and a superheater temperature of 540C. The
cost of construction in connection with

Page 42

photo: snderjyllands hjspndingsvrk

grate-fired stoker plant of 70 MW electrical power, during the period from

1992-1994. The purpose of the experiments was to investigate the generally known problematic issues in
connection with straw-firing at power
plants, including:

Straw being unloaded from a truck at the Enstedvrket. The crane lifts 12 bales
at a time. At the same time, the bales are being weighed, and the water content
measured via microwave equipment mounted in the grip-hooks.
the establishing of storage, handling
equipment, and firing systems
amounts to approx. DKK 90 million.
Avedrevrket
In connection with the construction of
a new power plant unit (Unit 2) at the
power plant Avedrevrket, a
biomass-fired plant with an input of
150,000 tonnes of biomass per annum of which the majority will be
straw. Based on experiences gained
at the plant in Masned, a separate
straw-/wood chips-fired boiler has

Straw for Energy Production

been planned that can produce steam

at 300 bar and 580C. The steam
passes to the main boiler steam turbine. If it is not possible to attain the
high steam temperature without too
severe corrosion problems, arrangements will be made for part of the superheating to take place in a natural
gas-fired superheater. With the planned construction project and the high
steam temperature, an electric power
efficiency of the biomass-based unit of
43% is estimated. The plant is planned for starting up at the end of 2001.